Benedict to Mid East Christians: Resist temptation to emigrate

Published: 29 January 2007

Pope Benedict has issued a call to Christians from the Middle East
region to be "courageous and steadfast" and not fall to the temptation
to emigrate.

According
to the Vatican Information Service, the Pontiff made the call at a
meeting with members of the Joint International Commission for
Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental
Orthodox Churches.

In an address to the fourth plenary meeting
of Commission, Pope Benedict told delegates that the "shared ecclesial
patrimony" and "heritage of experience" of the Catholic Churches and
Eastern Orthodox Churches "should shape our future 'guiding our common
path towards the re-establishment of full communion'".

"Many of
you come from countries of the Middle East," Pope Benedict observed,
recalling that many Christian minorities may face difficulties in
surviving "in the midst of such a volatile geopolitical panorama" and
how they "are often tempted to emigrate.

In these circumstances,
Christians of all traditions and communities in the Middle East are
called to be courageous and steadfast in the power of the Spirit of
Christ, the Pope said.

Across the region, Christian communities
date to the to the time of Christ, but nearly everywhere Christian
populations are in decline.

In Iran the Catholic population has
today is one-tenth what it was in 1973, while in Iraq it is one-third,
according to last year's Vatican statistics. In Syria, the Catholic
presence has dropped from 2.6 per cent of the whole population to just
1 per cent; in Israel and the Palestinian territories it has fallen
from 1.9 per cent to 1 per cent.

"May the intercession and
example of the many martyrs and saints, who have given courageous
witness to Christ in these lands, sustain and strengthen the Christian
communities in their faith!" the Pope prayed.